Medicine & BodyGreek → English
Blepharitis
/ˌblɛfəˈraɪtɪs/noun
Chronic inflammation of the eyelid margins, causing redness, crusting and itching.
The Greek roots
βλέφαρον
blépharon
eyelid
-ῖτις
-îtis
inflammation of
Literally: “inflammation of the eyelid”
The story of the word
βλέφαρον is the eyelid, used by Greek doctors exactly as ophthalmologists use it now. The ending has a stranger history: -ῖτις was a feminine adjective ending that agreed with νόσος, disease, so the original phrase meant the eyelid disease. The noun dropped away, the adjective stayed, and medicine ended up with a suffix that can be bolted onto any body part.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → scientific coinage → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
Same family
blepharoplastyblepharospasmblepharoptosis
In a sentence
Warm compresses twice a day keep the blepharitis manageable.
Blepharitis is the usual reason for eyes that feel gritty every morning.